Bets Placed, Let the Horror Begin
by Kraevir
Summary: It was the house that everybody avoided. Because maybe if you didn't think about it, it'd go away.


"You guys don't have the guts to stay in there a whole night. No way," the kid said, laughing at our looks of indignation.

"Yeah? Well I bet we _can _do it. Bet you 500 mesos that we will," my friend, Kat declared.

"Heh, you're on. But don't say I didn't warn you."

That's how it started. That's how I ended up in the front of this mansion with my friends Kat, Joseph, David. The one house everybody on the block avoided—pretended didn't exist like how one pretends phantoms, ghosts, demons, and other vile things don't exist because it's easier that way. Because if you don't think about it maybe it will cease to exist like a figment of one's imagination.

Decayed wood hung off the walls like peeling flesh. Windows creaked, doors slammed, and shutters fluttered. Randomly. Suddenly. If one tried to peer into the windows, all you saw was black, even on the sunniest days, as though it devoured the light. I looked around. Kat was shaking. David appeared calm, but his knuckles were white from clenching his fist so hard. Joseph's eyes kept flitting back and forth. Searching for an escape maybe. I'm sure I looked just as bad. I could hear the lamp in my hand rattling, and I quickly clasped my other hand onto my arm to steady it. A howl echoed throughout the night, breaking our reverie and making us jump. David shook his grizzly head like a dog, looked at us and nodded.

He reached out and took the knob of the door, twisted it, and let it swing open. The creek reverberated throughout the house like a minute squeal of pain. We all shuddered. Taking a deep breath, David looked around waiting to see who would go in first. Nobody volunteered, so he squared his shoulders and took the first step forward. And as one, we followed him in. The door swung shut, and I looked back, catching a last glimpse of the moonlit world before it slammed shut.

Inside, the cobweb infested foyer greeted us. The lamp barely cast enough light to see the whole room. Two grand staircases swept around up into the darkness. Dust floated upwards and the floorboards groaned every time we took a step. Through an unspoken agreement, we stayed here for the night.

Around midnight, David got up.

"I need to take a piss."

Getting up, we all went in search of a latrine. Safety in numbers I assumed. We wandered the halls, opening door after door. Suddenly Joseph stopped by a set of double doors. His eyes were glazed as he reached towards the knob, as if in a trance. I snapped my fingers in front of his face and grabbed his arm. He jumped and glanced at us guiltily.

"Sorry Joshua."

Eventually we found one on the upper floor. David nodded thanks, and waved us off towards the foyer as he entered the bathroom. Kat and I were eager to get back to (relatively) familiar ground. So we scurried off. Joseph, however, lingered.

"I'll keep watch here. In case something happens you know?"

I scoffed. He just wanted to be near the ever infallible David. Brave, courageous David. The one that could protect him. Nevertheless, I grabbed a torch off of the wall and lit it with the lamp. I held out the lamp to Joseph, and he nervously took it, his eyes always flittering back and forth.

Soon enough, David came back. Alone. Kat looked at him, puzzled.

"David…where's Joseph?"

"I don't know, I thought he went back with you guys."

"No, we left him with you."

"_Shit.__"_

Then a shriek pierced the air, a primal cry of terror and agony. David sprinted to the door and tried to open it, but it remained fastened. He whirled around, terror twisting his face into a morbid caricature of the original. Kat and I ran up the stairs towards the door, hoping to Joseph was okay, whatever happened. Around this corner, left here, right here until we saw an orange light ahead. As we rounded the corner into the hallway we saw that it was fire blazing from the broken lamp. The scream was reaching a higher pitch now, and as we approached the door, it stopped. A severed head rolled into the hall. The creature stepped through the curtain of fire, oblivious to the flames that licked the reptilian skin on its shoulders and shell that scrapped against the ceiling and walls. Pierced on one of its talons hung the Joseph's bloody torso. A yellow light from its giant cat's eyes illuminated our terrified faces.

"Hey kids," it rasped, its voice like nails scraping upon a blackboard, "here to play?"

* * *

I'll finish this when I get around to it. School's been hectic. R&R. As a side note, no I did not write this based on or because of CrapPish's story. Haunted houses are just cool. And a bit creepy, but that's the charm of it all. As a matter of fact, I haven't read anybody's fanfictions for the last month that I've been inactive. School bites.

* * *


End file.
